


Veil over Their Eyes

by olliya



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, MadaSaku Day 2019, Pre-Relationship, Rating will go up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-07-21 08:02:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19998595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olliya/pseuds/olliya
Summary: For MadaSaku Day 2019. Madara becomes Sakura's target. But after the war nothing is as it was before and the mission goes in an unexpected direction.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for MadaSaku Day 2019

* * *

"One of our squads spotted Uchiha Madara on the western border of Fire Country." Tsunade's fingernail landed between her teeth, as usual when her shishou was aggravated. But this time it was something more than usual, permanent show of displeasure. "And you'll go to keep an eye on him."

"Hai." Sakura steeled her face into a professional expression. Internally she was cheering and jumping from joy. Finally, a challenging mission after months of semi-curfew in Konoha. After the war the hospital suffered from severe shortages in personnel and Sakura had to dedicate all her time to her duties of the medic.

"Our top priority is that he doesn't notice you. Don't engage him under any circumstances. Don't let him realizes he's being tracked. Quench your chakra to nothing, don't use any, I repeat, any ninjutsu techniques."

Sakura held in a scowl. So, that was it for a fun mission.

"He is not a sensor - we went through all the papers Tobirama wrote about him - so, combined with your perfect chakra control, the cover should work," continued Tsunade.

"Nidaime wrote about Madara?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Three full tomes," deadpanned Tsunade rolling her eyes. "I really don't understand how could my great-uncle, being a Hokage, find time for the literary endeavors that he had committed for the sake of that man… Anyway, if you have an impression that he's starting to realize something - retreat immediately and don't let him see you, or, gods forbid, capture you. We don't want to provoke a new war."

"How should I retreat so quickly?" The mission sounded less and less fun. "He's known for his supreme speed…"

"If anything happens just summon the smallest Katsuyu's piece," offered Shizune from her corner of the room, "and the rest of Katsuyu will summon you back to Shikkotsu Forest. From there Tsunade-sama can call you to Konoha."

"That's what we will do, Sakura-san. You can rely on us…" Nodded a snail perched on Tsunade's shoulder.

"And under no circumstances let yourself be noticed!" berated her Tsunade.

* * *

It was already three days that she was on his trail. He was traversing a large forest, camping every evening in a different place. Sakura kept a very large distance between them, quenching her chakra to the barest minimum, tracking him mostly through traditional methods. She was all the time on the highest alert, living on soldier pills as she didn't dare to recover her food ratios from summoning scrolls not to alarm Madara with her chakra signature.

Now he was setting a camp again. Sakura, perched on a high branch of a tree two kilometers away, could see the warm glow of a freshly started fire.

She was tired, but didn't dare to relax just yet. Not that she could really relax at any point during the night. For three nights straight already, she wasn't sleeping but entering into a deep meditative state instead.

But the wear and tear of the mission was getting to Sakura. What kind of shitty assignment was this supposed to be? No action, only stealth. And the objective itself - chasing after an Uchiha. Again. The thought was leaving a bad taste in her mouth. " _I should be used to it by now,"_ thought Sakura bitterly and shifted more weight to the branch she was holding to. Sasuke had left the village once more, refusing to take her with him and not bothering to indicate when, if at all, he would be back. " _It's just how my entire life looks like anyway..."_

That was when she heard a strange, cracking noise right behind her. Sakura turned.

In front of her a Wood Clone just finished detaching himself from the tree trunk. Sakura raised her thumb to her mouth… and her hand fell limply down. The clone of Madara Uchiha possessed his original's genjutsu ability.

She screwed up. Holy shit, how she screwed up.

He yanked her by the arm. She was, surprisingly, still standing, she was just paralyzed. "Come," said the clone.

Adrenaline rose to the point of pain in Sakura's veins, but she couldn't move a muscle.

The clone dragged her down and had her approach Madara's campfire. The real Madara was cleaning the fish she saw him catch earlier during the day. He didn't even raise his head. The clone applied pressure to Sakura's arm. "Sit." He forced her down onto a tree log on the other side of the fire.

Sakura glanced up. In a hiss of strange sounds, the clone dissipated into wood and sank into the forest ground. The real Madara shifted his eyes towards her.

"Your hood," he said and Sakura's hand went up to the edge on her head cover against her will. The genjutsu might have been shallow but it was damn effective.

"Konoha…" there was a note of tiredness in Madara's voice. "What do you people keep wanting from me… State your mission."

Sakura clamped her lips.

"Do I need to torture you? Here I am, minding my own business, and Konoha sends people to track me down. How am I supposed to understand that? Are you trying to provoke me into aggressive moves?"

Sakura managed to shake her head. It was a disaster already; she shouldn't make it worse. Maybe she should tell him the truth?

"We mean no outbreak of hostilities," she started in a careful tone.

"I would require some more information to back up your words. What's your mission?"

"You are my mission. Just you. Watching you."

"Am I so interesting?"

"How can the strongest man in the world not be? The mission is to keep tabs on your movements."

"I don't appreciate it. Report to your Hokage that it is to stop. I don't intend to start a war, but the next spy will be eliminated. But as sign of my good will, you can go as you stand. Unharmed."

He got up, went away from the campfire, and started to browse through undergrowth looking for something. His movements, the way he walked… When he turned, she could truly mistake him for Sasuke, as his hair was now cut much shorter now.

When he returned, he was holding a fistful of sticks and small branches. He examined them one by one until he chose three and proceeded to cut off the side branches and all the unevenness. He wasn't using a kunai but a normal, broad-bladed knife. His movements were exact and deliberate and precise. Funny, thought Sakura, how what was for sure a deadly weapon in his hands, didn't look threatening at that moment.

Meanwhile, Madara finished working on the sticks and brought two stones to the campfire side. Then he picked up the fish, from where they lied on assembled leaves, and pierced each one with a stick.

He placed the sticks on a bigger stone and secured their ends with the smaller one so that they were angled in a safe distance from the fire. He cleaned his knife and tucked it back into his pouch.

Then he turned his head to her. "Why are you still here? I released the genjutsu half an hour ago."

Sakura shuddered. Why didn't she realize? She shook her head to break the trance. Sure, she should go. She would gain a safe distance from him and set up her own camp. Finally, she will be allowed to make a fire and summon some actual food from the scrolls. And sleep entire night.

Sure. She will be going.

Her eyes landed on the fish – they were already sizzling in a very appealing manner.

But it wasn't the food she was hungry for. It was something else. He looked so calm and at ease going about this usual mundane business. Just a normal person, in a company of another.

Just… It will be just dark forest out there and when she comes back to Konoha just an empty, dark room. And then in the hospital, even among the crowd, so lonely that it could as well be empty.

"Can I stay a while longer?" the words spilled out of her mouth before she could think about them.

Madara didn't seem to have a bewildered look in his repertoire. But he held her eyes with no expression change on his face.

"Why would you do that?"

What a blunder, what did she even say? And now she was realizing that was exactly what she wanted. "I just…" She thought about how would it be sitting by the fire with Sasuke. Campfire in the forest – that was what she always imagined their travels would look like. Their travels… How stupid she was. There was never anything that could be called 'theirs'. "You said you have no hostile intentions, so you shouldn't have a problem!" she said defensively and a bit too aggressively.

"I never said I have a problem. I just asked about your reasons."

"What do you care, really?"

"Really? I don't. I can't imagine anything you could come up with would endanger me in any way. It just strikes me as odd. But if you don't want to talk about it, fine with me." He turned the fish around over the fire.

Sakura remained sitting, pondering on her reactions. She didn't make any sense to herself. What was she even doing?! But she didn't make a move to leave.

He gave her one fish, keeping the second one to himself. The third one they shared.

Then they sat some more. Madara was digging between the embers with a stick, guiding the fallen out, half-burnt pieces back to the fire. Sakura was peeling the scales from pinecones and throwing the cores to the fire. They cracked like small fireworks when catching fire.

Even without looking, Sakura could see him in her peripheral vision all the time. He didn't look anything like Sasuke. What was she thinking? Was she so far gone that she was seeing things?

His gestures. It seemed that he had a habit of folding one leg and propping his chin on his hand when sitting. Funny that she knew one of the phrases of his body language already. While she didn't know any of Sasuke's at this point. After the war she didn't even have an opportunity to spend enough time in his presence when he was unguarded.

And from their genin years… With painful clench in the chest Sakura realized she didn't remember.

She stole one more glimpse at Madara's face. No, it wasn't the looks. It was only her unquenched longing.

_'Should I say it? Do I owe him an explanation? No, I don't owe him anything. I don't. But maybe I want to say that. Maybe for once in my life I want to say aloud what I really think.'_

"You reminded me of someone. That's why I stayed."

He looked at her for what seemed to be many heartbeats. "You must miss him very much if you resort to something like that."

Sakura didn't comment.

"So, am I playing a substitute," he laughed. He genuinely laughed. "Something like this – only to an enemy you could say something like this…"

Sakura bit her lip. Indeed, not in a hundred years she would say something like that to a person she had a smudge of consideration to. But Madara didn't seem to care, he was rather amused. It probably took much more to push him out of balance. If that was possible at all.

"Why didn't you chase me away?"

"It happens very rarely nowadays that someone recognizes me and doesn't run away screaming…"

"Oh. I'm… I'm sorry about that." Sakura's empathy ran deep, she didn't need personal experience to be compassionate. But this sentiment she could really understand like no other. Sakura knew how it felt to be shunned. Most of the people in her life had at some point pushed her away. Her sensei - devoting his whole attention to his two prodigious troublemakers of students. Naruto – disappearing for entire three years, leaving her without the team. Her friends – that after the war got so preoccupied with pairing up. Sasuke…

Sasuke, always Sasuke… All her life defined by things he did or didn't do. Everything, wherever she looked, all was tinted by him.

They sat some more. Fire was crackling quietly, its glow dancing in the tree branches. More embers were pushed back towards the flames. More pine cones landed in the fire. Neither Sakura nor Madara moved or said anything.

Sometime later – Sakura didn't know how much later, she kind of lost the track of time - Madara got up and without a word started to unpack his bedroll. She rubbed her forehead still not quite believing what is she doing and recovered a summing scroll from her pouch. She placed her summoned bedroll on the other side of the fire, crawled into it and curled up. It was warm and cozy and the sleep found Sakura almost immediately. Maybe she was just exhausted from many nights of being on the watch-out.

* * *

Next morning, they packed their respective camps, quietly mirroring each other's movements.

"So, where are you heading to?" Sakura decided to break the silence.

"To the village north from here. The one with the ferry crossing."

"Oh, maybe I'll join you then. I could catch the boat downriver to Konoha… If you don't mind…"

Madara shrugged. "I don't."

They set off. Instead the usual ninja-style tree hopping they walked on the ground, like civilians. The forest floor was soft with moss. Gentle sunlight was filtering through the branches and creating peculiarly shaped splotches on the ground.

Despite the leisure pace they covered quite some kilometers before the midday pause, and probably even some more in the afternoon.

"So, are you enjoying yourself? In this little imaginary trip of yours?" ask Madara out of the blue when they were crossing a particularly beautiful part of the forest – with ancient trees growing far apart and high grass undulating like sea waves underneath.

Sakura considered. She was strangely comfortable throughout the entire day. But being reminded about her initial incentive stung. "Actually, I don't. Comparison is the thief of joy." Her good mood was just about to disappear.

Madara didn't change his pace. "Hn. If I were younger, that would be one heck of a blow to my ego. Yet another thing you could say to only an enemy, right?"

"Maybe I should talk to my enemies more often…" mused Sakura as an unwelcome smile found its way onto her lips. "But that's not how I meant it. I'm upset because I realized he would never be so amicably fine with me being around. Would never allow me to follow. He never did, each time I asked. And that I would never be so at ease. I would only always climb my toes and try to be perfect for him. I would strive and I would try to see to his every need, to make sure he's satisfied. I would double- and triple-guess my every word, every move of my hand. And he would probably be annoyed," finished Sakura almost inaudibly, as talking through clenched throat was getting increasingly difficult. Why was she even saying this? It's not that he cared. Not that anyone cared.

Madara shrugged. "You have quite some issues to work through, girl."

Sakura hung her head low.

* * *

"So, what's your destination?" asked Sakura next day around the noon, when they were traversing a clearing in the forest.

"Trying to get the intel you couldn't get through spying? Do you think I'll tell you if you ask nicely?"

"Yes, actually I do. You said you have no hostile intentions. So, there shouldn't be a problem with answering my question."

"I may not want to disclose my plans to a stranger, did ever occur to you?" scoffed Madara.

"Only that it's not true. You don't mind telling me this."

"I'll tell you if you tell me why do you want to know."

Sakura considered for a moment. Not the intel, that's not what she wanted. There was something about him, that she couldn't quite put her finger on. There was something that she… envied him? "I want to know how can you walk so calm and unperturbed even when everything around had crumbled. As if all that happen did not touch you at all... How do you do it? How can you still be so… so yourself?"

"How? I don't define myself through my circumstances. I know who I am even if I've made most horrific mistake. Falling for Zetsu's deception was my failure, a grand one, and it changed the course of my life. Yet, it didn't change who I am."

"Where are you going?" whispered Sakura feeling a shiver going through her body. As if in his answer was hidden something of utmost importance to her.

"I'm tracing back my path in this world. I'm going backwards through my past and I look at the places I've seen before. This time without the film of Zetsu's deceit over my eyes."

"And? Does the world seem different to you?"

"It does. It still does." Madara paused and looked up, towards the sky. "But at some point, I will find a place that will look the same now as it did when I saw it for the first time. And then I will know when did he possess me. I'm looking for this place."

"You'll find it."

"Of course I will."

They passed the clearing and crossed a small stream. On the other side of the ravine, Sakura asked: "And people? What about people? Do you also see them differently?"

Madara didn't turn his head. Sakura wondered if he would get what was she talking about. She was following their last exchange in her head, but, in retrospect, it wouldn't be necessary clear to her interlocutor.

But it was clear to him. "I wouldn't know. People die. No one that I knew in my younger years is still alive."

"And me?" spurted Sakura without thinking. Some inexplicable part of her felt hurt. Not noticed again. Overlooked. She really did have issues, concluded Sakura with dejection.

"What about you?"

Sakura bit her lip. How embarrassing, she will have to explain and humiliate herself even further. That's just her rotten luck, but she had to admit – she wasn't helping her it either. "You've seen me before. During the war. Don't you remember?"

Madara finally turned his head and looked her straight into the eyes. "I do remember you. I just considered it uncivil to dwell upon it. As far as I remember I've almost killed you." He paused for a moment. "You do look different."

"How…?"

He turned completely so he was now facing her and Sakura wanted to squirm under his gaze. She suddenly remembered how overwhelming his full attention felt. He was taxing her up and down and, but instead of stiffening in alert, Sakura felt she was blushing.

"Very different," he said in the end.

* * *

On the next day they reached the ferry crossing. They didn't talk much along the way. They exchanged some remarks about practicalities around the camp and organizing the food, both otherwise they kept rather silent. It was quite a change from Sakura's usual demeanor, but she didn't mind. She noticed that until now, she needed that constant chatter of hers to drown those small, mean voices in her head - whispering all the nasty things about herself and her life. But now, it was silent in her head. Silent and peaceful. She was listening to the birds singing as she went.

She had no idea if Madara was also fine with the level of their interaction, but he never raised any objections.

"I will show up within Konoha's borders. In a year or two," said Madara out of the sudden, when they were walking downhill, the ferry village spread below them on the riverbank.

Sakura turned her head. "Ah. Yes, of course. The Uchiha old clan territory must be near Konoha, right?"

Madara nodded. "I would appreciate if your Hokage didn't send an entire army to fend me off. I have no interest in fighting you, and a profound interest in taking my time in the place where I was born and grew up."

"I'll do my best to convince Tsunade-sama not to send the troops out."

They were approaching the first houses.

"I suppose it would make sense if you'd come to Konoha as well…" said Sakura, somewhere in the back of her head counting down the meters to the ferry. There weren't many left.

"Hm... I suppose it would."

The ferry was just in front of them.

"Then I… I'll be there. When you come. I look forward to hear about your journey. About how will the word look like through your new eyes. What you'll discover…"

"Likewise," replied Madara handing coins to the boatman.

"Likewise what?"

"I look forward to hear if the world still seems the same to you," he said with a small smile and stepped onto the ferry.

Wait, what did he mean? Why should her world look any different? Sakura wanted to ask, but the boat carrying Madara left the shore already. He didn't turn even once.

Several hours later, when she was sitting on the board of the boat going downriver, Sakura thought she understood. Maybe, maybe waiting for someone and being so sure, so absolutely certain that this person will show up, will make the world look different.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks after returning from the mission Sakura decided to move out from her parents. There was no use to keep waiting. Her adolescent dreams of leaving her family on the day of her wedding felt so stupid. Honestly, they felt stupid for quite some time already, but she didn't have enough momentum to act upon it until now.

She rented a tiny apartment, up on the fifth floor, just under the roof. It had one room, a kitchen annex, a closet and a balcony. At first it was very, very quiet, but soon she realized she kind of liked it. She chose it so it was alright. Her friends got even more busy starting their own families but it stopped bothering her that they never had time for her because now Sakura looked forward to returning home every evening. There were always some small things to do – hanging a shelf here, arranging kitchen supplies in a better way there… She took some time decorating, as far as her budget allowed – mostly flowers from Ino on the window frames, and some pictures on the walls.

In autumn she took holidays and went to the capital of Land of Fire. Sakura was there already once before on a mission, but this time she went sightseeing. She decided to go on her own having realized that she had been always putting off things she wanted to do for the time when Sasuke would be with her. It had always been her dream to experience those things with him, to see new places together. Now, as in an illumination, she realized that nothing was stopping her from doing it all on her own. That it won't be less valuable or less worth it.

The trip to the capital was great. Not only due to the extravagant splendor of the temples and palaces, but also because of the fact that she could stroll through the streets at her own pace, not caring about anyone's interests or opinions.

Came the spring, Sakura went to a seashore vacation spot known for picturesque creeks and cliffs. She spent entire week exploring the coast and neighbouring islets. On the last two days of her stay it was even warm enough for a quick dip in the water.

She learned taking her time with doing things. Until now she always tried her best to be effective, to achieve the maximum. Anything that didn't serve a purpose of getting better, stronger, more useful, more worthy, more worthy of Sasuke's attention – she should finally find courage to name it – didn't have place in Sakura's life.

Now she picked up on reading books she would deem silly and useless not long before. She learned to leave the hospital once her shift was over – before she used to rationalize that she didn't have anything better to do than work anyhow. Now, grabbing from her holiday experiences she took to strolling around Konoha's streets as if it was a foreign city. With fresh eyes, the village presented itself in an exciting way. She started to notice things she never paid attention to – a small bookshop she didn't even know was there, an overgrown garden wild in its beauty. Chalk drawings that some kids left on the pavement.

One evening during on her way from the hospital, a perfect composition of roofs and turrets against the setting sun caught Sakura's eye. She ran home to bring her camera, but when she returned it was too late – the moment was gone. From that day on she took to carrying the camera in her purse. The consciousness of having it with her made her open her eyes in completely different way – she started to notice motifs that could work well on the photo.

Soon she was spending significant amounts of money on developing her films. Since most of her photos were taken in the evening, often the details were lost in the dark, or if a street lamp happened to be in the cadre – over-burned. The inability to convey this what she intended through the pictures was an irking experience. Additionally, the waiting time was unpleasant – Sakura was never a patient person.

So, in a stroke of boldness, she decided to refurbish her broom closet into a film-developing studio. Choji helped her with building in the shelves – the closet was so small they had to attach them directly to the walls to safe the space. She took some lab dishes from the hospital and got herself the supplies. The first trial went so badly that she had to spend the night on the balcony due to the smell.

But the next ones went progressively better and soon Sakura ventured into experiments with developing of her films. And learned to finish her work minimum two hours before going to sleep to give the room enough time to ventilate.

* * *

When in the late summer of the second year after her notable mission the scouts came with the reports about Uchiha Madara approaching from the east, Sakura wasn't surprised in the slightest.

The intercepting squad was sent, but the council bent under Sakura's argumentation, and the number of shinobi was limited to four jounins who were supposed to meet Madara openly. They had departed a week ago, and were reporting through the messenger birds that Madara is progressing slowly, apparently not letting their presence influence his plans. Sakura had an access to the messages and it was clear that the guards were pissing their pants and would love Madara to hurry, reach Konoha and relieve them from their duty.

The day of his arrival was cloudy. He came through the main gate, his jounin-guards preceding and following him. It was clear as a day that they tried to keep the largest distance possible even in the narrow confines of the gate and Sakura had to hold in the laughter.

She moved from the spot next to the guards' house where she was standing, propped against the wall and walked towards him. He acknowledged her with a small nod. Sakura took the place by his side and adjusted her pace with his. It was the same leisure tempo as then when they had been walking through the forest.

"How was your trip?" asked Sakura conversationally, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Hmm, for the last 50 kilometers gregarious. Unfortunately." He sent a pointed look towards the shinobi escorting him. They promptly cowered. "Otherwise - scenic. And yours?"

Sakura giggled. He was referring to the same metaphor he had used when they had been parting and she was so happy that she had understood it already back then. Still, she was surprised that he remembered a phrase from almost two years past. "Probably less scenic?"

"But?" he prompted glimpsing sideways at her.

It didn't happen overnight, but the painful struggle that had been a constant in her life had disappeared. Sakura wasn't waiting and breaking her head over whens and ifs anymore. She didn't have to. It was so liberating. "But it was a good trip," she answered with a smile.

"So was mine."

They were walking along the main street. Konoha citizens were presenting a jolly sight scrambling in attempts to get indoors or into random shops upon their approach. Some poor souls who didn't find a door fast enough were pressing themselves against the walls in hope of getting away from Madara.

Madara walked as if with a destination in mind. Sakura noticed they took a turn towards Hokage tower.

"I was asked to see the Hokage," said Madara as if answering her thoughts.

"And you will?" asked Sakura trying to keep disbelief out of her voice. It wouldn't do to encourage him into more audacious behavior.

"I suppose I need to humour the Senju woman if I want to enjoy some peace here." Madara nodded towards the guards still lingering at both of his sides.

"Tsunade-sama is no longer Hokage. Hatake Kakashi is. You may remember him from the last battle against Kaguya."

Madara sighted. "Barely. Hokage title keeps devaluating. But what to do…"

Sakura stayed on the corridor while Madara disappeared in Kakashi's office. She thought it would be a formality, but the hearing was prolonging and Sakura started to get nervous.

"That was long. Did Kakashi-sensei interrogate you so much? I'm sorry, it's not like him…" Sakura jumped on her feet from the bank she was sitting on, the moment the door opened.

"No. I simply had several questions."

"You had questions?"

"Yes. But he wasn't very well prepared."

"What kind of questions?" asked Sakura weakly.

"Oh, all kinds of. When and how will the protective barrier around the village be set up again. What about the reparations to the trap system? What are exactly the benefits of such tight connections to the Sand… And so on."

Sakura couldn't wrap her mind about it, at least not on such a short notice. So instead on dwelling further on Madara's peculiar interests she opted for the simpler topic. "Are you hungry? Want to go someplace to eat?"

"Hmm, a supper wouldn't be bad."

"Do you like ramen? There is such a stand…" Sakura grabbed at the first alternative that came to her mind.

"Ramen is fine."

They ate in silence under terrified looks of Teuchi and Ayame.

"Do you know already where would you be staying?" It was rather late and Sakura assumed he would want to overnight in the village.

"I supposed there is some inn here?"

"Several. Any preferences?"

"No."

Sakura deliberated for a moment. He would probably prefer something traditional. "I have a place you could like in mind. I'll walk you there."

When they were in front of the inn, and all the guests standing chatting by the entrance had promptly evacuated, Madara asked: "Since you seem not to have a mission assignment, I believe we could eat together tomorrow as well?"

"Uhm, I don't go much on the missions nowadays. I work in the hospital, you see. It's almost like a civilian job, at least timewise."

Madara smirked and tilted his head. "A civilian job – I would have never guessed... And do you enjoy it?"

"Very much. There is a sense to it. I have an impression that I'm doing something constructive."

* * *

Next evening, when she finished her shift, Sakura entered a very empty hospital plaza. Suspiciously empty plaza. The reason for the void was standing under the tree.

They went to the barbecue restaurant, as Sakura was always happy to eat something else than ramen. The next day they ended up just grabbing some street food on the night market as Sakura gave him a short tour, and on the fourth they landed in Ichiraku again.

From day to day Madara seemed more familiar with Konoha and its life. Sakura was guessing that he spent his time roaming through the village. She steeled herself to receive the complaints about him as she anticipated that everything concerning Madara that came to Hokage office would be redirected to her, as everyone else was be too scared to confront him.

On the fifth day Sakura got a bit tired of how intensive her time-off had become. "I have enough of restaurant food," she told Madara when he picked her up from the hospital. "I prefer to eat at home today."

"Of course. Then I'll walk you there."

Her rebuttal seemed not to have upset him, nevertheless Sakura reconsidered. "Uhm, care to join?" She had an impression that without her Madara would have a very sad evening in front of himself. Maybe he didn't care about it, but Sakura did. She disliked the mental imagine of him sitting at the table alone, with waiters forcing themselves to approach and all other customers evacuating. No, she didn't want it for him. "I should be ready with the dinner around eight."

At seven sharp Sakura heard doorbell. Aggravated, as she was just about prep the veggies, she dried her hands into the apron and marched to open the door. Only to have Madara enter through them ignoring her perplexed state. "You're much too early, nothing's ready yet…"

"Obviously. It's only seven. So, what should I do?"

"Sorry, what?"

"For the meal preparation. You need to tell me exactly what to do, I don't have experience with fancy cooking."

Sakura got a grip on herself. It was actually really thoughtful of him to come to help. "It won't be fancy, I'm not a great cook myself. Just rice with vegetables. But you can chop these." Sakura handed him onions, carrots and mushrooms.

Couple of minutes later, he provided her with perfectly cubed vegetables and stayed with his back leaned against the counter when she was stir-frying their meal. He took over the stirring while she retrieved the dishes from the upper shelf of the cupboard. Sakura portioned the food and each of them carried their respective bowl to the table.

Most of the meal passed in silence. Sakura relished the lack of buzzing of the crowd that inevitably accompanied eating out. And the fact that neither of them felt pressure to fill the silence with words.

Only towards the end Madara, keeping his usual, mildly disinterested tone, threw a real bomb. "I will be working in a weaponry workshop starting tomorrow."

Sakura almost dropped her chopstick. "You will what?"

"I will work in that workshop next to the east gate – the one specializing in bladed weapons."

"And what exactly you will be doing there?"

"I will manufacture weapons? I used to make my own ones for the most of my life - I'm pretty good at that. Not that the owner wanted a proof, he looked as if he would pass out when I asked for a job."

Sakura snorted trying not to lose the food from her mouth. "I bet. But why would you do that?"

"I need something to do the whole day. And you seem very pleased with your job, so I thought I'll also give it a try."

* * *

From that day on they weren't meeting everyday anymore. Sakura readjusted her shifts to the usual schedule – as she had opted out of evening duties for the first days of Madara's stay after having noticed that he had made himself a constant feature in front of the hospital at 5 p.m.

Now she was working the evening shifts as well and since he was in the workshop during the day it happened that they didn't see each other for a day or two. It also happened from time to time that she would finish in the afternoon and he wasn't waiting for her, if he needed to bring some step of the process to completion. He, as he said, didn't like leaving the work half-finished. On such occasions she would go to the workshop to pick him up. Sakura enjoyed sneaking up on him – as far as it was possible to sneak up on Uchiha Madara – and watching from afar how he assembled a tanto or sharpened a blade. It brought back the memories of their first encounter.

Even though the days were getting shorter and cooler they made long walks about and around the village. One evening they wandered towards the Hokage Mountain. Sakura knew that those faces had completely different significance for him than they had for her. She looked at him, waiting for a reaction.

"Is there a way to climb the cliff? Or does one still need to run up?" he asked.

"Sure, there are stairs. It's a famous sightseeing spot. A tourist attraction." Sakura turned towards the stairway built in into the wall.

"Is it now?" Madara's voice was an equal mix of skepticism and disbelief.

"What's wrong with that?"

"I think I preferred when it was my special place…"

"Oh! Was it!? Well, then I'm sorry, all those people must feel like trespassers to you." Sakura, who had just reached the top of the rock formation, felt suddenly very self-conscious. Luckily, the plateau was empty at that time of the day, but railing surrounding it, two benches and a trashcan were enough to send the message.

"On the other hand, I don't think I would like to spend much time here now. It's really awkward to sit on top of giant Hashirama's face," said Madara. Nevertheless, ducked under the railing, sat down at the edge of the cliff and lowered his legs. "How did his life look like?" he asked looking downwards, at the bridge of the nose of Shodai Hokage.

"Do you mean, his personal life? Well, according to the annals he and Mito-sama had a harmonious marriage, with her supporting his efforts for the village, and so on. But since they were both public figures, who knows how much of this narrative is crafted to fit the needs of propaganda. My shishou says Mito was very active politically. From how it sounded to me, she was defining the broad strokes especially when it came to international affairs, while Tobirama was micromanaging village's day-to-day operations."

"And what was Hashirama's job?" Madara arched his eyebrow.

"Making a good impression, I guess," giggled Sakura.

Madara laughed. "Oh yes, he was good at that. Do you think he was happy?"

"I don't know… They say he was always smiling and his laughter could be heard all over the village, but I don't know… They had one kid. They couldn't have more because of the Kyubi seal. His daughter died very young leaving two children behind. She had a strained, strictly political marriage with a noble who fled to the capital immediately after her death. So Shodai-sama got to be a grandfather pretty early and assumed the role of parent for his grandkids. My shishou remembers him fondly; he was spoiling her rotten."

"Hashirama always wanted lots of children. He would babble about it all the time when we were kids. He had names chosen for his sons, ideas how to test the resolve of prospective suitors of his daughters and all those idiocies… I'm sorry it didn't work out for him."

"That's so sad… And you? Did you also wanted to have kids?"

"Depends when."

"Elaborate?" Sakura cracked an amused smile at him. But he didn't look like he got her goodhearted teasing. "I'm sorry." Sakura reigned herself back. "Just forget what I said. I don't have to talk about it if that makes you uncomfortable."

"It would be ridiculous if such question coming from you made me uncomfortable. It's just that it still surprises me that someone would even pose such questions in my context. And into my face. Well," he picked up after a small pause, "when I was growing up, I kind of assumed that I would have kids. Everyone had large families at that time, so one automatically internalizes certain ideas. But after Izuna died everything changed. His death was my failure to protect him. Such a thing makes you reconsider." Madara picked up a small pebble and threw it into the void in front of them. "I guess having Tobirama, no matter how much of a bastard he was, made a huge difference for Hashirama. He never lost everyone so he had still enough faith to go on."

"And you did."

"I wouldn't call it losing faith. Rather opening of the eyes. At least that's how it felt back then."

* * *

They've just finished yet another supper at Sakura's place and were cleaning up the table when Madara asked: "What is this smell? A strange odor that I don't recognize. I felt if also the last time, but today it's more pronounced. Do you feel it as well?"

Sakura sniffed. "Ah, this," she was already so used to it that she didn't pay any attention to it anymore, "it's my developing chemicals. They stink. And I was playing a bit today before the shift."

The look at Madara's face told her he didn't get a single word. "Photography. I'm developing my own photos. Such a small hobby of mine…" He was still not getting the point. Sakura grabbed the Team 7 old photo. "Like this. You've seen those, right?" Madara nodded extracting the frame from her hands and focusing on kids in the picture. "When one makes a photo," continued Sakura trying to ignore the way he was looking at the face of her younger self, "the film needs to be developed. Usually in the shop, but I do it on my own."

"Why?"

"Why do I do it on my own? Or why do I do it at all?"

"Hmm, both?"

"I do it on my own because it's fun and I can influence the process, achieve a different result. Or different results. It's a bit like shaping the reality to my whims…" She glanced at Madara. "You know something about such urges, don't you? And I take photos to capture the moment that otherwise would be lost."

Madara shook his head.

"You people with Sharingan," scowled Sakura, "you can preserve and record everything so it's no use for you."

"It's all very foreign to me. It sounds interesting, but I cannot imagine what are you doing exactly."

Sakura rubbed the back of her head. "Hmm, I could show you? I have one film to develop." She grabbed her camera from the shelf and extracted the film. "See, inside this roll, there is a film that needs to be taken out and submerged in different chemicals in order for the pictures to appear."

"Alright." Madara sat on the nearest chair. "Do it. I want to see it."

"But I need complete darkness. No trace of light. That's why I do it there." Sakura pointed to her closet and bit her lip. "It's gonna be crowded, but you can come."

It got more cozy than she expected. Madara was occupying quite a lot of space even if he tried pressing himself into the corner to be as unobtrusive as possible. When Sakura turned of the light, she realized that the display was just rendered impossible due to the darkness. "I'll open it now and transfer the film to the container. Here," she grabbed blindly searching for his hand and placed it so he could feel all the maneuvers of her fingers around the film case. "I open it like that," his fingers danced over hers, "and I pull it out." Sakura felt Madara tracing along the stripe of the film, getting familiar with the unknown object. "Then I roll it a bit to fit into the container," she held her hand together with the container in contact with his, "and then I need to add the first chemical."

Sakura turned carefully to face the table, now aware of him being very close behind her. He wasn't touching her but she was sure he was peeking over her shoulder.

"Now you'll just have to believe me, but I need the container to stand here so that I don't splash."

"It's alright, I see the chakra in your hands. I get the idea what are you doing."

She went on with the procedure. When the timepoint of switching on the red light came, she saw that he was indeed standing right behind her, observing her motions.

"And now it needs to dry, so that's it."

"But where are the pictures?" Madara sounded mildly offended.

"From this film – tomorrow earliest. But I can show you how to make prints from one of the older ones."

She took one of her current, stubborn projects out of the box, spread the film on the frame and put the photopaper on the table underneath. When the image started to appear on the blank sheet of paper, she heard Madara suck in his breath.

"It's nothing special, really. And see, this area here is overexposed." Sakura pointed to the central part of the photo. "And now I will make it better defined." She slid a new paper on the rack and ghosted her fingers above it, manipulating the amount of light specific areas were getting. That should do… With a swift motion Sakura put the paper into the fixing solution. She could try blocking more light away from that building on the left - maybe it will look more interesting… Less natural for sure, but maybe the effect will be aesthetically pleasing nevertheless? She retrieved a new paper and, focused, bent over the table.

Only to remember that she wasn't alone. "Oh, sorry! I'm done here!" She waved her hand apologetically at Madara.

"No. Go on. Don't interrupt yourself."

„But isn't it awfully boring for you?"

"No."

Sakura blinked. It was one of those moments, one of many similar one over last weeks when she just didn't understand. That, what the logic was suggesting lay entirely out of the scope of her experience. Out of the scope of that what she was willing to believe in. "Why…?"

"When you're so focused, so concentrated on your craft – you have such an expression on your face… As if you were in another world. I have no idea what it is that you're doing but I could watch you the whole day." Madara paused considering something. "I imagine I would also enjoy watching you by the healing," he added.

* * *

Several days later after picking her up in front of the hospital Madara, instead of wordlessly going wherever she suggested, surprised her with a question.

"I suppose you won't be free next week on Tuesday and Thursday around noon?"

"No? I'll be in the hospital, as usual. But why so specific? And why such hours?"

"I have two appointments to look at the houses."

"What houses?" She should have learned by now that he wasn't acting as she expected him to.

"I am planning to buy a house, and those two come in question. I wanted your opinion, but if you're not available, why don't we take a look at them today?"  
Sakura at that point decided to stop getting surprised. "A second opinion is always good," she agreed.

The first house was not far away from Sakura's parents' place. The garden gate was closed, but since Madara insisted that she should see it, they simply jumped over the fence. Madara claimed it didn't matter. Sakura was of a bit different opinion, but in the end, it was supposed to be his house, so it was him who would look sketchy in front of the neighbours. If being Uchiha Madara wasn't sketchy enough.

They couldn't enter the house but they took a solid peek through the windows into every room.

The second house was on the other side of the village, in an older district, close to where the Uchiha compound used to be. They didn't need to jump over the fence because the gate was open.

"Any tips? On what should I pay attention to when I will be examining them?" asked Madara pushing a bench towards the window so they could get a look inside.

"Hmm… Bathrooms? We couldn't see them from here. I know that you don't put much value on it, but believe me – that's the area where modern really wins with traditional."

"So, a bathroom similar to the one you have in your apartment?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I will have it in mind. Something else?"

"This second one, is in a quieter neighbourhood. I suppose you'd prefer that. Not noisy in the night and so on."

"And which one would you take?"

Sakura chewed at her lower lip. The first one was a bit bigger and from the feel, more elegant. The second one on the other hand had such a beautiful garden, and a bit of a nostalgic flare.

"The second one."

Madara nodded. "Good to know."

* * *

He ended up buying the second house. Their evenings morphed from leisure to work. There was so much to do around the house…

Luckily, for the main wall-painting evening Naruto showed up with an army of his clones and at least this task they finished quickly. Madara coped with the presence of jinchuuriki surprisingly well and resorted to sarcastic comments about the paining precision of the clones. It didn't discourage Naruto in the slightest as he failed to grasp the irony.

After Naruto left in haste suddenly realizing that he never told Hinata that he'll be away for the entire evening, they sat on the veranda eating the sandwiches. Sakura barely managed to grab them on the way and now was super happy that she did. They were both starving and the floor still needed to be washed from the paint rests. Naruto's clones had lot of merits, but meticulousness indeed wasn't one of them…

"Why are you even doing all this?" She made a sweeping gesture at the house - all the rooms in various stages of disorder. "It's so much effort."

"The house?"

"Not only. Setting up a life."

"Because I don't want to repeat my mistakes. I was travelling so long, and even when I reached Uchiha territory the world still seemed different. Black Zetsu must have gotten me earlier than I imagined."

"Oh. I'm so sorry..."

"I thought it was around Izuna's death but it must have been earlier. My entire adult life, I took decisions influenced by him. This time around I'm doing things differently."

Sakura nodded. "You wouldn't want to repeat the same mistakes, once you got a second chance."

"Certainly. I imagine you can understand it as probably neither do you."

What were her mistakes? Did she even made them? Maybe she did, maybe it was time to stop seeing herself as a victim of cruel fate that placed in her heart the love to someone who never reciprocated. That he didn't reciprocate maybe was indeed due to the fate. But how she went about it, how she let it define her life - that was her own doing.

"I don't want to repeat my mistakes either," declared Sakura. "I want to find such a love when people gyrate around a common center of gravity. Not around one of the parties."

"Hmm, well said," said Madara not taking his eyes from the horizon where a new moon was rising from behind the houses.

* * *

They went to a furniture store. It was really large, as after the destruction of Fourth Ninja War everyone was rebuilding. The store was divided into sections and arranged the way that you had to pass through the entire store to get to the most necessary items, so they've already spent good two hour here and Sakura could see that Madara was really fed up.

"Look, we've seen all of it already. Now you only need to decide what kind of stuff you'll take."

"Why would people invent so many types of tables? Or chairs? I just need a table and some chairs, and I don't see a necessity to have to _choose_."

"I guess it's because people have different tastes. Some like one thing, some another… You, for example, like those more traditional designs."

Madara gave an unconvinced nod.

"See, that's simple - just take those, and you're done."

"I gravitate to them because I know them. That's how the things used to look like back in my youth, when I still had something that could be called home. But that doesn't necessarily mean that those are the best. I'm not aiming at creating a replica of household from a hundred years ago. Not all things back then were good, believe me."

Sakura gave him a light elbow punch to the side. "Don't be too serious about it, it's not such a big deal. And some old things are awesome – for example futons. They are so comfortable. I don't have one only because when I was moving out from my parents, I was short on money and my furniture is one big collection of give-aways. So, my bed used to belong to Kiba's older sister. It's comfy and all, but futons are the best. On the other hand – I think modern tables and chair are more practical than those where you need to sit on the floor."

"See, that's what I meant - you have much better overview. Why don't you decide."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story seems to have a life of its own... It started as G-rated and now it gets an upgrade for sexual themes in this chapter, and for the real deal in the next.

"They've finally installed the rest of the sliding doors today. Now it looks like a house." They were sitting on a boulder at the riverbank after finally scraping out enough time to go eat a proper meal instead of onigiri interchanged with sandwiches.

"Thank gods. That took them forever." The door had been ordered good three weeks earlier and Sakura invested already two of her shift-free mornings to wait for the delivery to come. Which it never did.

"That makes it ready for you to move in."

Sakura almost choked on the candied nuts she was eating.

"Of course, only after we formalize the relationship," added Madara raising his hand defensively, apparently prompted by her bewildered expression.

Only to make it even more bewildered.

Sakura had pushed all thoughts about this what was between them developing any form of romantic relationship as far as she could. She didn't want to fall into the familiar pit of yearning and heartbreak, so she was circling the perimeter of the said pit with a very large safety margin. She never allowed herself to daydream, to let her imagination go loose. Instead, she focused on cherishing those day-to-day encounters, and being pleasantly surprised each time he active sought her out. All the things tasted better when there was no hope. Hope only made you expected, want more, made you calculate the odds. Without hope it was just pure, unbridled joy of having someone's company. Stolen moments, as she liked to think about them.

And truth being told, he never ever indicated at any romantic interest in her. Even when the chances were plentiful. Sure, he gave off an impression that he enjoyed her company, but all the hints were pointing only to this – enjoying her company.

So, her reaction was to first turn his words in her head and then to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Madara looked at her suspiciously.

"I'm sorry, it will be completely ridiculous, don't get creeped out – but honestly you sounded as if you were proposing."

Madara sent her concerned look. "I apologize. You probably expected something very different, as you have every right to. I was led astray with the familiarity between us. Such a question requires more ceremony." He paused and pursed his lips. "Forgive me my mistake; I would have never imagined I could slip like this. But since it's already done and now we're having this conversation, I will tap into this familiarity and have your answer nonetheless." He looked at her so expectantly that it didn't leave any room for misconceptions.

Sakura opened her mouth. "Are you… Are you really asking whether I will marry you?!"

"Yes?"

"But… why?"

"Why does it surprise you so? The house is ready so there is no point in delay. And whom do you think I take you for to suggest anything other than marriage?"

Sakura rubbed her forehead trying to get herself under control. Bewilderment aside, she must shove this bewilderment aside. Because she was just asked the most consequential question she will ever need to answer in her entire life. And apparently it didn't matter that she didn't have the answer well thought-through because she would need to answer it now. But the bewilderment in her demanded explanations. She demanded explanations - this went so off track that if she was supposed to find her way through it, she needed to understand. "I'm a bit… surprised because you never said anything…" But careful now – by making a move, he also made himself vulnerable in front of her. And slighting or hurting him was the last thing Sakura wanted. Still, she needed this conversation to be a bit more exhaustive. "We didn't even date…"

"Those modern concepts are neither of interest nor of relevance to me. But care to explain what do you understand under "dating"?" There was a tinge of playfulness in Madara's eyes. As if he knew he already won this round.

"Going out, doing things together and stuff…" Sakura broke off as Madara's face expression gradually changed to more and more amused. "Oh," she said adding things up. "But we didn't even kiss or anything!" Sakura clutched at the last argument, feeling on one hand silly, on the other relieved that they could navigate this minefield with smile on their faces. "I mean, there were occasions… Multiple occasions… Like that time in my darkroom…"

"Would you have really wanted that I would corner you, defenseless, in a closed room? That would signify absolute lack of respect to you. I would have been only imposing myself on you. One cannot give honest consent in such conditions."

"You know, there are things in between forcing yourself on a girl and proposing. There is plenty of space in between…" Sakura spread her hands apart indicating how much of space between those things existed. Madara was looking at her as if he wasn't getting her point. "Like kissing, cuddling..."

"I respect you well enough not to breach the borders of propriety. And to what point? There would be plenty time for such things after the wedding."

Sakura sucked in her bottom lip, sneaked her hand down and searched for his hand.

"Is that also lack of respect for you?" She gingerly interlaced her fingers with his.

"No. It's not," answered Madara squeezing her hand back.

They looked at their intertwined fingers and none of them said anything for a while. Sakura turned her head towards the flowing water.

"I.. I never let myself to think that you…"

"That I what?"

"Consider me in such a way?"

"Why else would I be spending all that time with you? Buy that house? Or even stay in Konoha on the first place?"

"Was it because of me?! I thought you're doing it because you like it here." Finished Sakura with every word realizing how stupid it sounded. She saw Madara smiling at her. At her expense. "Why didn't you indicate your… interest in a more visible way? Why didn't you ask earlier?"

"Earlier? When I came here with one shirt on my back, escorted by the guards? When people were making evil-fending-off signs behind my back? If I had asked, or as you say – indicated anything, earlier, it would have only decreased my chances."

"Think so? Maybe you're mistaken for once…" mused Sakura, talking more to herself than to him.

"Either the way, there is still one important topic we've never finished discussing: I want to have children, and that - soon," he hung his voice waiting for her to position herself.

"I… I like my job…" mumbled Sakura.

"Your job as a doctor, right? Not necessary the missions?"

Sakura nodded.

"I figured that you'd say something like that. I thought about it and I think we can easily find a solution. With such a safe and physically non-straining job you can work while pregnant, and once you give birth, I can take over the child care if you want to go back to work. There is plenty of room for a workshop in the house so I can work from home. Honestly, I would even prefer to work in my own place."

"I see…" whispered Sakura. She squeezed his hand harder trying not to sink in that crazy whirlpool of visions forming in front of her.

"So, is it a yes or a no?"

Sakura took a very deep breath. "It's a yes."

"I'm honoured."

They held hands all the way home. It didn't feel weird, but still, Sakura was thankful that the streets were dark already. It was easier that way.

"Can you estimate the time you will need to organize the wedding according to your expectations? I do realize such an occasion is important to women, so I want you to have it according to your wishes. But I was planning to go to the temple tomorrow and make arrangements already."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. How did he get the notion of wedding organization being a big deal for girls? And then she remembered that a week ago they ran into Ino on the market. And Ino, not paying any attention to whether or not they had time or will to listen, proceeded to bombard Sakura with updates on blonde's wedding preparation. Sakura remembered – she couldn't forget it as much she tried - that the highlight of this conversation was the breaking news that Ino finally managed to get two yards of her gown fabric from the seamstress to the shoemaker so that the shoemaker could coat Ino's wedding heels with it so they match up with the dress. Throughout their conversation Madara gracefully feigned interest in the wares on a nearby fish stand, but Sakura was sure he had heard every word.

"I… I have no idea how long it takes to plan a wedding." There were probably very few things in the universe she had less idea about.

"Can you get informed tomorrow?"

Sakura rubbed her forehead. "Sure, I can." Wait up. She doesn't need to go down this road. There will be no preparations, no fancy reception and no big circus. While she could invite half of the village, she won't. Because Madara will be able to invite exactly no one. Sakura mentally went through hospital graphic and mission raster. Naruto was just back from a long assignment, so it was unlikely he would be sent out again. Ino was working in the Interrogation Division, so she was anyhow mostly stationary. Only one doctor was on holidays - they could easily cover up for her. "Three days," said Sakura. There will be no reception, and the shop on the main street had some ready wedding kimonos. "Let's do it in three days."

"Alright. I'll tell the priest."

* * *

Her apartment was almost cleared from her stuff. Only the bigger furniture, like bed and built-in kitchen were still in place. Up to the early afternoon Sakura and Ino were packing, and a dozen or so Naruto's clones shuttled between her flat and Madara's house. Three additionally clones were surveying neighbouring shops gathering empty cartons – having to move so suddenly Sakura was totally unprepared. But luckily Ino approached the task with a brash, yet uplifting attitude. They went methodically through cupboard after cupboard, packing the content into the boxes, until they were full and a room designation could be written on the top.

Madara showed up shortly at the beginning of the action, but seeing Ino he promptly retreated saying he should better have an eye on Naruto's clone distributing the boxes around the house.

In the early afternoon the packing was over and Sakura could finally slouch across the bed. Fortunately, she had still couple of hours until the girls would show up for the party.

At nine o'clock sharp the girls lined up at her doorstep. Ino brought a full assortment of fruity alcohols and soft drinks to mix and match. Temari brought three bottles of sake of a brand Sakura could never afford. Hinata brought cupcakes. Tenten was on a mission – she was going to be left out again – thought Sakura with regret. It happened to poor Tenten far too often.

They settled on the floor of Sakura's bedroom. Sakura suggested that they could all fit on her bed, but Ino and Temari opposed – the drinks were better poured on a more stable surface. In the end only Hinata got a pillow from Sakura's bed to lean on – her back was hurting as she already seven months pregnant.

To warm up the mood, as she put it, Ino proposed sharing their sex experiences with the bride. With a bit of astonishment Sakura realized that she was indeed the last one left inexperienced from their group. Hinata and Temari were married, Ino – well – Ino was Ino, and dating Sai for two years. Usually Sakura felt confident among her peers, because her smarts, the scope of her responsibilities and her ninjutsu prowess. If she was to judge the skill level objectively, she simply was the strongest kunoichi in their generation. But when it came to experiences with opposite sex she was indeed lagging far behind.

Ino ensured everyone that she could volunteer to start, and not waiting for the feedback went into details of her sex life with Sai. Into all of the details. Graphically. Sakura's ears were red. Every part of Hinata's face was red. Sakura could bet that all other parts of her body too. Temari was listening with a highly entertained look in the eyes that were slanted a bit more than usual. Even though she was taking one swig of sake from the bottle after another Sakura was sure that Temari was cataloguing ideas for further use very precisely. The only open question was whether she was cataloguing them to test them out on poor Shikamaru or in order to blackmail Ino and Sai.

"… and he really likes when I walk around naked at home. He says it's inspiring him." Finished Ino filling Sakura's cup with sake with perfect precision that came only with years of training. "And what does Naruto like?" Ino gently nudged Hinata with the elbow. Hinata almost jumped.

"He… He… I don't… I don't know Ino-chan…"

"You don't know what Naruto likes?! You're his wife! I bet he's so kinky that you're ashamed to say. Does he use his clones in the bedroom too?"

"Ino! Stop torturing Hinata right now!" Sakura didn't want to spend the night before her wedding tackling an unconscious pregnant woman. And Hinata looked as if she would faint any second.

"She won't tell you anything – level of kinkiness independent," deadpanned Temari. "Nothing related to sex will pass her lips. Why bother?"

The entire hens' night was of course Ino's idea. Sakura would gladly do without it, but Ino insisted. She was in the end her best friend and was feeling, as she vocally announced several times during the packing, wronged, slanted and mistreated by Sakura rushing the wedding. Because Ino, according to herself, never had dreamt about anything more than about planning and organizing Sakura's wedding. Which was total bullshit, because as far as Sakura knew, Ino never had dreamt about anything more than about organizing her own wedding. Which she was doing. For eight months already. The wedding was planned in May next year.

Nevertheless, somewhere between her usual ranting Ino hit a sore spot – Sakura never told her about any development with Madara. Point was that Sakura didn't really know about the developments herself. At least not on a conscious level. It was not something she could put in words. They were meeting, and he was extremely important, but Sakura never expected that the thing would escalate so quickly.

Nevertheless, Ino was appalled and was giving a vocal testimony to it. Now that she had an audience, Ino also had a reason to go all out. "This is perversion – to hold hens' night one day before wedding! And on Tuesday out of all the days!"

"Ino," tried mitigating Sakura, "we decided on the wedding only yesterday."

"That's even worse! How can you put me in such a situation? I didn't manage to buy a dress! How can a bridesmaid without a dress.."

"Ino. Let's get some things straight. A) you have approximately five millions of dresses. B) you're not going to be a bridesmaid. It's a Shinto wedding! There are no bridesmaids!"

Ino pouted theatrically and poked Sakura with the finger. "After entire life of friendship that's what I get? That's what I get?!"

"Yes! And you're supposed to wear a kimono! Understood?"

"Yesss sir!" Ino downed her drink and smashed the glass on the floor. "Will do. So, let's move on to the second point of the program. Now, for the lingerie!"

Ino opened up the bag and upturned its content on the floor. All kinds of underwear sets fell out. All colours of the rainbow, lace, silk, satin, tulle, mesh. Bows, flowers (prominently sakura flowers and roses), hearts, sparkling crystals and sequins.

Sakura covered her face. "Ino. No."

"But Forehead! Take a look!"

"Without looking – no to all of them! And why, on earth, did you buy thirty sets?! What will you do with all that?"

"I know, I bought too many, I know. But I wanted that you have a proper choice. Come on Forehead – take your pick. The rest I'll exchange for my size and keep for myself, no worries." Ino was rummaging through the pile. "How 'bout this one?" She presented a crimson red set to the public. "You like red. I bet he does as well… Such an Uchiha colour…"

"Ino!"

"And this?" Black, so lacey that almost completely see-through set hung from Ino's fingers in front of Sakura's face.

Sakura realized there was no way to escape. Meaning, she should better take over the initiative before she gets stuck with something completely outrageous. She sunk her hands into the heap of clothing hunting for something halfway acceptable... A streak of white ghosted between the colours. Sakura grabbed at it.

"White? The most boring one? You disappoint me so." Ino sounded hurt.

"But I like it! That's exactly the one I like!" Sakura put as much enthusiasm in her voice as she could muster. "And anything colourful would look hideous peeking through the underrobe." She wanted to pat herself on the shoulder for coming up with such a reasonable argument.

Ino bit her lip. Since she started dating Sai her aesthetic sense improved. "Hmm.. you might be right."

Temari took a final sip from her cup and reached for the bottle. Suna had different customs and pouring sake for yourself wasn't such a no-go as in Konoha. Nevertheless, Temari first lowered the bottle towards Sakura's cup, with disdain acknowledged that the bottle was empty, opened a new one and start pouring.

"That's enough, thank you, that's enough!" protested Sakura "I don't want to have a hangover on my own wedding."

"You'll break it down whenever you'll want. Just keep it in your system long enough to have fun."

"And you?" As far as Sakura noticed, Temari dealt with that first sake bottle almost single-handedly. "Aren't you overdoing it?"

"Me? No. I have special pills. The after-drink pills, as we call them." Temari patted her pocket. "We're not only good at making poisons, you know? We know something about the antidotes as well."

"And what is the lucky guy doing today? Partying as hard as we do?" Ino poured herself another glass of one of those bright-red liquors she brought and took a slow, appreciative sip.

"He went to his old clan territory."

"What for?"

"To visit the family shrine. Or what is left of it." Madara had told her he wanted to add her name to his family line. But he wasn't sure if he would find the appropriate tablet. They were made of stone, so they should have survived the fire, he said, but if the entire place was one pile of debris… Sakura hoped the trip won't be too depressing for him.

"How serious." Ino rolled her eyes. "So, no drinking for him?"

"Uh. He said he'll go to the cemetery when he returns..."

"Yikes! That's spooky. And gross! What does he want to do on the graveyard?!"

"Well, he said that before wedding one really should share a drink with one's friends."

Silence that fell in the room was highly uncomfortable.

"He said he'll drink with Hashirama," Sakura explained in attempt to ease the tension. In a failed attempt judging from the faces of the girls. She pictured Madara sitting next to Shodai's gravestone, sipping sake and, well, probably having a conversation as he had many before, just in different settings. In the grocery shop today, when Madara bought a large bottle of expensive sake and Sakura questioned whether he was planning to drink it all by himself, he explained that Shodai always appreciated a good drink so he will be getting the bigger half.

It didn't come across as spooky to Sakura, on the contrary – she appreciated and admired that after so many years and despite their final, fundamental fall-out Madara still held on to their friendship in some way.

But maybe it wasn't something the girls could understand.

Meanwhile, Hinata piped that she was feeling tired, and it gave others the cue that maybe the bride deserved some rest before her big day. Temari helped Hinata up, while Ino gathered the bottles and cups out of the way.

On the doorstep Ino threw her last piece of advice at Sakura. "Sleep until midday. That's the best beauty tip. Don't bother with the alarm clock, just sleep to your heart content."

"I cannot, I wake up on my own…"

"Then just turn around and fall asleep again. I'll come at two to start dressing you up, ok?

* * *

Ino clad in lavender kimono with small Yamanaka crest in colour of old gold featured on her back, hair in elegant bun and light make-up was the very picture of classiness and decorum. A clan heiress to the notch. Despite all the antics and teasing Ino knew how to behave and was willing to do so for Sakura's sake.

Letting out a relieved breath Sakura let Ino in.

"And what are you wearing under there?" Ino unceremoniously lifted up Sakura's robe and shrieked. "You cheater!" she exclaimed and practically tore the comfortable, cotton underpants off of Sakura.

So much for the classiness, concluded Sakura. "Those fancy things so much not me! And I really don't think he will even like it!"

Ino grabbed her chin. "Forehead. It's not for him." Sakura blinked. "It's for you. So that you remember that you are beautiful, and sexy, and even if it you don't think it's possible right now – you will hold a power over him. Sakura, I know you. You're making a brave face, but deep inside you're scared. And no wonder. I would have been shit scared."

Sakura's lip trembled. Just a bit but it trembled. "Do you think I'm making a mistake?"

"No! I'm very, very happy for you. But you made it into a real challenge, for reasons that escape me. Why this rush? If he proposed, then why not take your time with him? Live together as a couple for a while? Have, you know, a test ride? That's what people do…"

"I'm pretty sure he would have never agreed to something like that."

Ino rolled her eyes. "And I cannot even complain that he's old-fashioned, because he _is_ from a different time. What a pain." Ino sighed. "But I understand. To some extent. As far as one can understand one's best friend getting brilliant idea of marrying Uchiha Madara…" With another sight Ino lifted Sakura's leg to slip the other, more sexy pants on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and please tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

The ceremony itself was short. They went through the ritual gestures and phrases and it all meant little to Sakura. What mattered was the mutual intent that hung almost palpable in the air between them.

In the temple's garden they received congratulations from the guests. That went quickly as well, as only Sakura's parents, Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto and Ino were present. Sai was on a mission and Hinata, as Naruto reported, was feeling dizzy and unwell today. Sakura wondered how much of it was caused by Ino's yesterday's antics.

Over the sake and sweets Sakura observed the reactions of her family and friends. Her dad was holding surprisingly well – he fitted into the image of proud bride's father – a bit nervous, a bit overzealous but still happy. Her mother was anything but happy and it made Sakura's heart clench. She could understand her – her mother was simply worried; it was too sudden for her to adjust and come to terms with Sakura's decision. Tsunade wasn't happy as well, but hers was fuming kind of displeasure. She was also the only one who had the nerve to throw at Madara those unavoidable comments about how he should treat Sakura well or else.

Noticeably, the lower the age of the guests the better their moods. Kakashi was amused. Ino was perfect, sparkling with joy bride's best friend. Naruto was grinning and patting Madara on the back throwing idiotic encouragements interlaced with lots of Dattebayos.

Half of an hour later it was over and everyone headed home. November days were short and it was getting dark already. Luckily the day was warm enough and it wasn't raining so walking home in her expensive get-up was even an option. Ino went with them all way home, keeping the hem of Sakura's kimono out of the harm's way. And keeping her mouth gracefully shut.

Only when they were just at the gate Sakura heard a small click behind her back. Sakura and Madara simultaneously turned their heads at the sound only to face the objective of the camera pointed at them. Another click.

"Hey, Ino! How did you get your hands on my camera?"

Ino pouted theatrically. "You underestimate me, I'm not a kunoichi for nothing! And come on, one more photo! You'll be grateful for it later!"

Obliging they both turned towards Ino who snapped another photo and howled in triumph. "He smiled! Sakura, he smiled to the camera! And I got it on the picture!" Ino pressed the camera into Sakura's hands. "Here, make a masterpiece out of it!"

Sakura glimpsed at Madara who sported a carefully polite expression on his face.

"Ino," said Sakura. "He smiles a lot."

But Ino was already hopping away. "Have fun tonight!" she yelled waving her hand from the end of the street loud enough for the entire neighbourhood to hear her.

Madara and Sakura exchanged glances.

"Shall we?" Madara opened the front door and let Sakura inside. He had to hold her elbow when she was taking off her shoes – the geta were really high and wobbly.

"Uff, you wouldn't believe how heavy this thing is…" Sakura rolled her shoulders and moved along the corridor. "I dream about getting unpacked. You'll need to help me though."

"Of course."

Sakura halted in half step having realized that she just made a very forward proposition. But Madara was already in the door of the bedroom, so she sucked it up and followed.

She undid the string binding the obi and then stood with her hands raised as Madara, having untied the elaborate knot on her back, unwound the obi from her. Sakura cherished an unrestricted breath she could finally take.

Madara carefully hung the obi on the holder – it costed a small fortune and it showed.

Next came the kimono and the weight was taken off Sakura's shoulders. At least the physical one.

"Should I help you?" asked Sakura trying to think out something to do with her hands.

"No real need. My garments are much simpler," he answered simultaneously undoing his belt.

Not finding anything else that she could do, Sakura took off her underrobe. And there she was – all naked save those flimsy straps of fabric Ino forced onto her. Maybe she would even prefer not to have them on at all because they indeed made her look sexy, alluring even, while Sakura herself didn't feel like that at all.

Madara's eyes travelled to her breasts. To her horror Sakura noticed that the white satin was going exactly up to the half of her nipple. Up from there it was fine transparent mesh. Oh gods, how could she failed to notice that. And kudos to Ino for knowing her body to this extend...

Sakura covered her breasts with her arms and curled inwards.

"Hey… Don't hide," said Madara gently.

Sakura shook her head and turned even more away from him. "I'm sorry, it's all Ino's idea! I wouldn't ever myself…"

"Why do you apologize…?"

"You like things like that?" asked Sakura incredulously.

"I've never seen anything like that before. In my times women wore chest bindings. But it certainly looks interesting. Intriguing even. Why don't you let me take another look?" Reluctantly, Sakura lowered her arms. Madara tilted his head. "Yes. Definitely intriguing."

Sakura took a glimpse at him and the first thing she noticed was a bulge in his trousers that for sure wasn't there a moment before. Sakura felt entire blood rushing to her face – she was for sure making a total Hinata out of herself.

"So," Madara took a step in her direction, "as intricate as this thing is, how does it come off?"

With a bit of relief, Sakura turned to present him her back. "Here." She pointed at the clasp.

Madara fingers went to the clasp, he tugged and twisted but the fastening didn't let go.

Sakura giggled. And giggled some more when with another pull, he still failed to open the bra.

"Hm… I know what it is…" said Madara in overly serious tone.

"What?" managed Sakura between the giggles.

"It's a device to cool down the ardour of over-zealous, horny husbands." Sakura squirmed, unable to stand still from all the laughing. "Am I right? I bet it also sealed."

Sakura clamped her mouth with both of her hands in futile attempt to control her laughter.

"And booby-trapped as well," added Madara pulling at the clasp obviously without any real intention on opening it.

Sakura shot her hands backwards and with a minute flick of fingers opened the fastening. Then she slowly turned to face him still holding the bra to her chest.

"Alright, I've memorized it. I'll get it right next time," promised Madara taking off his trousers. He came up to her and took her hand, guiding it away from her breasts. The bra fell on the floor. Still holding her hand, he led her towards the futon. When he sat down, all Sakura could look at was his erection. The anxiety that was gone with the laughter was now back.

"No reason to be so nervous," said Madara observing her expression.

"But I have no idea what to do! And I'm scared!" An unwanted shiver ran down her spine. She knew she shouldn't be afraid but she was and it was only making her more dissatisfied with herself.

"Scared of what?"

Sakura licked her lips. "That I won't be able to do it so it's good for us both. That it won't be alright and it will be my fault. That I'll fail somehow."

Madara chuckled. "But it's not a competition and not a test. I'm not your opponent. It's more like I am your.."

"… teammate?"

"Yes. A teammate. And that what we're going to do requires a lot of teamwork. And practice. And trust. Like learning a combination jutsu."

"See!" Sakura exploded again. "You know already how, you did it before while I…"

"I never did it with you. That's all that matters. It's new ground for both of us."

Warmth bloomed in Sakura's chest.

He reached to her hips and slowly pulled her panties down. "And I bet I've already forgotten half of it…"

"Liar," whispered Sakura breathlessly. "You Sharingan users, you remember everything…"

He stroked along her thighs and pulled her closer so that she stood between his legs. Then he put one of his feet between hers and, grinning at her, wiggled it left and right, and left and right, pushing Sakura's feet apart and creating more space. When there was enough of it, he pushed his second foot there and slowly spread her legs apart. Sakura's eyes went wide.

Madara grabbed her thighs and pulled her down. Sakura stiffened in mild panic thinking that it will already be _it_ , so quickly. She blocked the movement propping herself against his chest.

"Wait! I don't think I'm ready yet!"

"But I know," he assured her and guided her down, so that her sex was only against his crotch, not aligned with him in any manner. "See, nothing to be nervous about," he said and wrapped his arms around her back. He caressed the skin along her spine and the shivering returned, but now for a different reason.

"Still nervous?" he asked and pecked at her lips.

Sakura jerked in surprise. Right, the kissing. Oh gods, that was her first kiss. She was sitting stark naked in her husband's lap and she just got her first kiss. Somehow it didn't seem very relevant at that point.

Nevertheless, she bent her head to give him another one. She wanted a better kiss, a deeper one, and she got it. Sakura had always thought that it will be a big deal, but it was turning out to be really easy.

Madara's hands traveled up and down her back, brushing over her buttocks more with every iteration. His thumbs were outstretched and he was reaching the sides of her breasts. It seemed that he was getting the feel of the roundness.

The movement of his hands gained force and speed. With a hold on her behind he guided her to roll her hips into him. The tiniest change of pressure at the front of her sex, that this movement instigated, sparked something in Sakura's system. The sensation was so good that Sakura repeated the motion on her own.

Madara moved his hands to her breast and stroke first gently, just touching the skin, and, when she leaned into the touch, he grabbed her firmer. When he rolled her nipple between the fingers Sakura made a sound into the kiss.

She was rocking against him in a rhythm that was drumming in her head and his hands kneading her breasts were helping her keep it.

Madara sneaked one hand down her behind, and, going around her buttocks, he reached her opening. He touched her just with the tip on his finger, and moved the finger around. Sakura was shocked at how easily it was sliding; she didn't imagine she could be so wet down there. Madara's finger nudged a bit deeper and Sakura moaned.

"Feeling more ready?" he asked pulling away from the kiss.

"A bit…"

Madara's hands were roaming all over her body. He cupped her buttocks and gave them a gentle squeeze. Deepening their kiss Sakura jerked and rocked harder on his lap - the delicious sensation radiating from her core intensified. Sakura felt Madara smirking into the kiss.

"Hey! Why are you laughing?!"

"I'm not laughing, I'm happy to see that you're enjoying yourself."

Sakura wanted to scoff but she didn't manage as he lowered his head to her chest and grazed his lips over her nipple.

"Oh," said Sakura in surprise. "Ooohh…"

His mouth was around her nipple and his crotch was grinding against her sex. He was responding to all her movements but still she wanted more contact, more pressure. She bucked erratically against him.

Noticing her predicament, Madara held her against his chest and lied down on his back. "Maybe like this?" he suggested. "You'll have more freedom of movement."

Sakura propped her elbows on both sides of his head, closed her eyes and kissed him deeply because she suddenly felt very exposed and didn't know what else to do.

Their lower parts lost contact at the rearrangement. Gingerly, Sakura lowered her bottom blindly searching him. And she whimpered – the head of his cock landed exactly between her nether lips.

Everything was so slick down there. Sakura moved her hips and his tip slid from her entrance to her clit and back. The sensation absorbed her so that she forgot to participate in the kissing. She rolled her hips again. Every iteration was creating more space at the entrance of her channel. Finally, in a stroke of boldness, Sakura directed him not towards her front but inside of herself. His head got caught in her opening – surprisingly, there seemed to be enough room for him there. And everything was so slippery…

Sakura pressed downwards – he went deeper. Her eyes fluttered, that was it – he was inside her.

She pushed more and had to halt as a barrier inside her hindered further movement. Sakura scowled. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but irritating nevertheless. What was she supposed to do now? How hard will she need to press to break it? Will it hurt? She pressed more and an unpleasant, dull stretch was the response of her body. She shifted more weight on her elbows instinctively escaping from the sensation. All that was so open a moment ago, was starting to close. Stupid body, to spoil her fun like that! It's nothing, just an unimportant detail, why would she react like that?

"Should I handle it?" asked Madara searching her eyes.

"Uhmm," hesitated Sakura. But it was supposed to be teamwork, right? Whatever was her predicament, she wasn't alone with it. From now on to the end of their lives. "Maybe yes…"

"Then come here." He guided her more upwards with a hold on her nape and captured her lips in a kiss. He withdrew from her almost totally before he dipped deeper. But not deep enough to even touch the barrier. Pushing tongue into her mouth he repeated the motion. With a soft plop his head went out of just to enter her again. The sensation from her opening started to dominate Sakura's attention. After he repeated the maneuver couple more times, she had to break the kiss because she couldn't multitask anymore. Sakura added the roll of her pelvis to the mix. Her momentarily doused desire burned again.

"More…" she moaned. "Do it more…"

Madara stroked along her sides and settled his hands on her hips.

"More…" demanded Sakura.

In one swift motion he tightened the hold on her hips hips and pushed them all way down in the same time pistoning his pelvis straight against her.

Sakura grunted as all the air was pushed out of her. _'I had no idea that it will go that deep…'_ she vaguely registered as sharp pang of pain was already starting to fade into non-existence.

Madara was motionless beneath her. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes… No… It's stopping to. Uhm… thank you, I guess?"

"Well, I was acting in my own best interest in the end, wasn't I?"

Sakura chuckled. And immediately stopped because she felt her inner walls clench around him from the laughter. Just how intimate was this connection?

She leaned down to kiss him and slowly, experimentally rolled her hips in a circle. Oh wow. That felt amazing. Sakura opened her legs wider – the pressure on her clit was finally exactly how she wanted it.

She raised her hips slightly and drove them down thinking it might be more pleasurable for him. She must have been right because even if only minutely, he jerked.

"I'm alright, you can move now," assured him Sakura.

Slowly, he joined in. And it was even better than moving on her own as the resonance of their bodies stoked Sakura's fire. She closed her eyes and followed the cues from her body. With his hands firmly on her hips, he helped her keep the rhythm, supported her weight and lifted her higher to give the plunges more momentum.

He was filling her in a perfect way, just the way she needed… It didn't take long until the coil of tension that was getting wound tighter and tighter from the moment they entered the bedroom finally sprung. With a voiceless cry Sakura threw her head back as she rode her climax in sharp thrusts.

When it finally subsided, she propped her hands up on the bed next to his head, and let her head hang. Her hair flowed down, obstructing their view to the sides. She looked Madara in the eyes and laughed. She was on such a high that no words were sufficient – she could only laugh.

"Are you done?" he asked.

"Looks like," responded Sakura, not stopping to laugh.

He chuckled - apparently it was contagious. "Then, a switch-around?" And before she could answer he scooped her tight to his chest and rolled them over so she was on her back. He hooked her legs over his arms and lifted her hips higher. "Tell me if something's wrong."

He thrust very slowly at first, and when she didn't protest, he picked up the speed. One of his hands sneaked to her sex and pressed at her bud. Sakura squirmed, assaulted by too many sensations.

Taking the hint, Madara moved his hand away and reached for her wrist. "Do it yourself. In the end, you, yourself know best what feels good." He pulled her hand to her crotch.

"What? You want me to touch myself? In front of you?! And what about you?"

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine watching."

Sakura let out a scoff and took a swung trying to punch him in indignation. He only grabbed her wrist again and reposition her hand on her clit. "Here. Here it is," he grinned at her. "As for a ninja you have a really lousy aim."

Sakura snorted but wanting to let the banter die, considered following his advice. Experimentally, she skimmed her fingers over her clit. Indeed, in this position she could apply whatever pressure she wanted. She pressed harder, moving her fingers in quick pulses.

Madara was observing her maneuvers hungrily. Sakura blushed but didn't stop. Somehow it was very arousing to have him watch her. With his grip on her legs he opened her even wider, as if he wanted to get more access to her.

"I don't think I can hold back much longer," announced Madara and it astounded her how strained his voice sounded. Was it so costing him so much physical effort? Or was the effort coming from restraining himself?

Sakura extended her hand towards him. He leaned downwards prompted by her gesture, so she managed to reach his cheek. "But you don't have to hold back at all… Just let go."

In response, Madara released her legs, threw his weight onto the arms propped on both sides of Sakura's head and bore into her. Sakura's heels landed on the mattress and immediately, she responded with her hips, trying to meet him half-way.

She didn't see his orgasm approaching, he made no sound, she realized only when he was already lowering himself onto her in the final, almost womb-penetrating push. The heat that suddenly filled her insides was also something she didn't expect.

Madara went limp, but before he would collapse on top of her, he slid out and rolled to the side. In instinct, Sakura clenched her thighs – she had an impression that things would leak out of her. And then, fighting the embarrassment that threaten to resurface again, she pressed herself to his side.

She wound her arm around him and put her head on his shoulder. There they were – skin to skin, her face buried in his neck, his seed pooled inside her and one couldn't possibly be any closer. It was a slightly intimidating realization.

Nevertheless, she was physically spent and all the events of this day made her emotionally exhausted. It was warm and safe in his embrace. And familiar even if it had no right to be familiar at all. As she realized she was drifting into sleep, Sakura forced her eyes open. "We should probably get up, it's early still, not even evening yet." She made a move to lift herself up but Madara held her down.

"There is nothing we _should_ do. We can do we want. Whatever we want."

"Then I want to stay like this," hummed Sakura in response. She closed her eyes and loosened all her muscles as the veil of sleep slowly fell over her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and please tell me what you think about this chapter and about the story in general, because that's the end... :) I'm so glad I picked up this prompt on MadaSaku Day and I love how the fic grew in a surprising direction. I had so much fun writing it! Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and please tell me what you think!


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